Accountability
The TNRD focuses on transparency and accountability in all aspects of governance, and is continually working to review policies and practices to ensure the highest standards of service are being met. On this page, find links to pages and reports that will help inform you about financial and corporate information at the TNRD.
Separate from annual financial reporting that is a legislative requirement, the TNRD provides reporting of expenses by directors and managers, and of cheques paid to vendors of the TNRD.
In 2021, BDO Canada conducted a forensic audit of past TNRD expenses, policies and procurement. The TNRD has made the findings public, as part of its commitment to transparency and accountability. The TNRD worked diligently to publicly release the forensic audit, in order to provide context and information. Acting on the recommendations that have come from the forensic audit has added to steps taken to enhance policies and practices.
How is the TNRD Taking Action?
Progress on Recommendations
1. Strengthen Board oversight on financial controls
2. Strengthen oversight by TNRD Audit Committee
3. Implement “Zero Tolerance” tone at the top
4. Improve CAO leadership and oversight
5. Implement fraud risk assessment
6. Update policies and bylaws
7. Update policies surrounding gifts and anti-bribery and corruption
8. Strengthen TNRD Code of Conduct
9. Strengthen Conflict of Interest policies
10. Develop policy addressing use of employer’s time for personal activities
11. Improve expense reimbursement process
12. Strengthen corporate credit card policy
13. Review Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) compensation
14. Implement performance review of CAO
15. Implement compensation benchmarking
16. Strengthen formal whistle-blowing mechanism
17. Implement testing of internal control measures
18. Increase accountability in financial department
Updated as of February 3, 2023
The TNRD has achieved substantial progress on action items towards increasing transparency and accountability, and work is ongoing on many initiatives. Below, view the TNRD Accountability Progress Report to find more details.
The TNRD has accepted all findings and recommendations made by BDO Canada in its forensic audit. BDO Canada identified 18 action items and made 65 recommendations to the TNRD. As of August 31, 2022, the TNRD has fully completed six out of 18 action items identified by BDO Canada, and more than half of the 65 recommendations are now fully complete. Work is in progress on the outstanding recommendations, and are at varying degrees of completion.
By acting on all 65 recommendations, the TNRD will ensure that there is even stronger oversight and accountability within the organization. The TNRD has created a report explaining the recommendations that were made by BDO Canada and actions that have been taken. The report will be updated as progress is made.
Timeline of Progress
- March 11, 2021: The Board of Directors approved a recommendation to move forward with an independent forensic audit of the TNRD’s financial records. A report from the current CAO stated the review would be done with the purpose of making recommendations to improve internal controls and oversight measures.
- April 22, 2021: Following a Request for Proposal (RFP) process, BDO Canada was chosen as the proponent to do an independent forensic audit. Six quality RFP submissions were made by experienced firms, and the highest-scoring proposal was made by BDO Canada.
- December of 2021: The forensic audit was completed. The forensic audit was expected to be completed during the summer of 2021, and the timeline was extended by BDO Canada because the scope of the forensic audit was expanded several times by BDO Canada.
- December 16, 2021: A summary of findings was presented to the TNRD Board of Directors by BDO Canada.
- January 20, 2022: TNRD staff released a report explaining the recommendations that were made by BDO Canada and actions taken by the TNRD. The Board of Directors also voted to endorse all recommendations made by BDO Canada in the forensic audit.
- January 24, 2022: The full forensic audit was released to the public, following a thorough legal review, to ensure the TNRD does not release information that it is legally prohibited from disclosing.
- October 6, 2022: TNRD staff provided the Board with a progress update on Accountability action items, showing that the TNRD was approximately 90% complete and providing an extensive list of new policies and improved policies.
Quick Facts
The forensic audit generally covered the period from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019, with the exception of per diem and telecommunications expense analysis that covered the period from 2014 to 2019, and email review that included records from the period from 2001 to 2020.
The report covers the review of management and Board expenses claims, procurement and vendor review and other matters.
The TNRD provided 45,050 documents, and BDO Canada professional forensic audit investigators manually examined 13,324 documents. The TNRD also provided 876 Management and 264 Board expense reimbursement documents.
BDO Canada professional forensic audit investigators spent more than 1,500 hours on their investigation into past records.
After gathering and analyzing information and conducting 21 interviews, BDO Canada provided:
- A 69-page forensic audit report
- A list of 18 control weaknesses with recommended actions for each
- A 25-page slideshow by BDO Canada, presented during a Regular Board of Directors Meeting on December 16, 2021
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The Thompson-Nicola Regional District Board of Directors will consider repealing and replacing Board Procedure Bylaw No. 2723, 2020 with Board Procedure Bylaw No. 2788, 2022 at the Regular Board Meeting scheduled for August 18, 2022 at 10:00 AM at The Ashcroft Hub, 711 Hill Street, Ashcroft BC, V0K 1A0.
The Notice can be viewed at:
https://tnrd.civicweb.net/filepro/documents/198514/
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